we will be joined by author and writer jonathan alter to discuss his recent article about the affordable care act. "washington journal" is next. good morning. it's wednesday, february 26. here are your headlines on capitol hill. house democrats are moving to vote on ace the minimum-wage increase. john boehner spent an hour at the white house is today discussing economic matters, the affordable care act and other issues with president obama. president obama warned the afghan president that time is running out to come up with a deal for u.s. troops in that country gone 2014. -- beyond what he 14. we will be talking about a bill

in arizona that would allow the use of religious belief for toeasing -- refusing service gay customers. as we take you through the we arethis morning, asking our viewers, should the governor vetoed that bill? phone lines are open. -- blicans can call we have a special line set up this morning for arizona residents. you can catch up with us on your social media pages on twitter and facebook or e-mail us journal@c-span.org. a very good wednesday morning to you. we will be talking this

first 45 minutes as sb 1052. it is the religious freedom bill. here's a few headlines on the subject. the front page of today's arizona republic. on governor as arizona debate rages. that is the headline there. on the front page of the casagrande dispatch. here is the washington times story on it. brewer feeling heat over arizona bill. gay-rights rubes, corporations lobby for governor's veto. we want to get your thoughts on whether governor brewer should veto that bill. currently thinking about whether she will do that. here are tweets from midnight last night from the governor, talking about the bill.

"i will do the right thing for the state of arizona." bill and wheres it came from, we want to turn to the arizona republic's legislative reporter. good morning. caller: good morning. host: what exactly would it do if it was enacted? caller: it is not a new thing for arizona. in thebeen introduced last three years. it has passed and the governor vetoed it for various reasons. ,ot necessarily the bill itself but more political issues related to other things. what the bill does is it is actually illegal for something based

on religious beliefs. supportersxample gives is that the new mexico case of the photographer who to photograph same-sex couples and there was a feud over it. host: what is the timing here on the governor's decision in terms of when she needs to make a decision on this i? she was in d.c. recently for the national governors meeting. caller: she was. she got back yesterday afternoon and she said she was going to spend today talking to supporters and opponents of the legislation. she has until saturday at 5:00 p.m. to make a decision. political is the fallout right now in arizona? we've seen the front page of several newspapers today talking about this issue. do we know how much support

there is on either side of this? caller: it is hard to tell. the most vocal we are hearing is the opposition. .hey are very vocal they're posting on social media and are all over the place. there is a petition on change.org. is definitely the most vocal at the moment. there is some support that we are not hearing quite as much. authorities could impact the 2014 election? we are showing that line to our viewers now. talk about the impact down the road. caller: it depends on what happens. you have several months until the elections. it may not be a major priority. pass, i think it definitely could have some ramifications. i think even now, most of the with their come out

opinion. i either strongly supporting it and most of the others are opposed. i figured depends on if she signs it or be does it. the: not to get ahead of governor's actions this week, but if this bill is enacted, we expect a court fight down the road? caller: i would assume so. they were still kind of looking at it and trying to figure out whether it is something they can follow up on immediately or they need to wait and let it go into effect and then assign people who have been impacted by it and go at it at that angle. there are groups that are looking at it as well. legislative reporter with the arizona republic. we really appreciate you getting up early with us this morning on

the washington journal. caller: happy to do it. host: we're talking to viewers about it. want to get your thoughts. should governor veto the religious freedom bill? here are a few tweets from national figures on this issue. mitt romney sent out a tweet veto ofay afternoon -- " sb 1062 is right." another tweet from john mccain -- "i would hope that governor veto 1062." we want to hear from you as well. we will start with floyd in jonesville, virginia. on our line for republicans. caller: i think it should be a bill that protects christians from homosexuality. it is one thing that god really hated.

homosexuality is one thing that god really hated. he burned them over homosexuality and birth people up. genesis.ound in if you want to find out about noble warming, read that 19th chapter. -- global warming, read that 19th chapter. -- peoplead where god that vote for these people that approve of homosexuality don't need to be called christians. here is how the new york times put it. religious right in arizona allowingill businesses to refuse to serve gays.

they welcomed it as a necessary form of protection for objectors to same-sex marriage and gay .ights groups it is a license for discrimination. the measure comes at a time when the courts are grappling with how to define the religious right of private businesses. the supreme court is to hear two cases next month or they are seeking exemptions from providing contraceptive services . plenty of comments on our twitter page already. w ofill read you a fe those. "the other 49 states need to stop all business with arizona and isolated like north korea. no airline fly their." government room for discrimination." our line for democrats this morning. good morning. caller: good morning.

i have news for that first caller. a lot of white folks were for slavery and they still call themselves christians. issue as that bill, the should be be towed. everybody knows what the deal is about. you have a nice day, sir. larry in mississippi. we will go to walter in new jersey on our line for independents. caller: this is wrong. let's saypen up -- i'm a very conservative christian that does not a clergy.women they want to meet somewhere and i have a meeting all. to --l give me the right

able open pandora's box. host: you are pushing for her to veto this bill. what pushback are you saying in the news on this bill? caller: it should be vetoed. they did not think it through. host: walter calling in from new jersey this morning on the washington journal. we should you governor brewer's tweet at the top of the show. we want to show you an interviewe that she had with cnn. it is going to hit your desk in arizona today. you are very well aware of what's next. where's your mind right now? certainly am going to go home and when i receive the bill i will read it and be debriefed on it.

we have been following it. i will make my decision in the near future. i have until friday or saturday morning to determine that. >> i've seen some reports of business leaders in your state were very upset and afraid of what the damage could be two businesses in your state. at super bowl is coming next year. obviously there are a lot of dental problems. -- potential problems. >> i have a history of having open dialogue on bills that are controversial. i listened to both sides of the issue and i welcome the input and information that they provide to me. andainly i am pro-business that's what is turning our economy around. i appreciate their input as i appreciate other side. >> as a governor, you have to deliver a. as a person and a woman and understands the plight of all kinds of people, where is your gut lying right now? rely a lot of my gut

because i have to look at what it says and what the law says and take that information and do the right thing. i can ensure you, i will do the right thing. host: that is governor brewer on cnn. here's a few more tweaks. from jeff flake of arizona -- "i hope governor brewer vetoes sb 1062." -- "i'masserman schultz telling governor brewer to veto sb 1062 because equality is a fundamental american value." an action alert from the arizona "it isc conference -- important that arizona's religious freedom be clarified

to make sure that the religious liberty of individuals and businesses remain protected." we want to get your thoughts. we are asking you, should 1062nor brewer veto sb echo let's go to edward in new jersey on our line for republicans. the morning. -- good morning. in america, we spend $4 trillion fighting radicals around the world. the fact that we will endorse something like this -- i want to peopleople that these that interpret the bible in american english, it has been translated hundreds of times or whatever. in aake all the stuff serious light -- thank you. host: we have a line this morning for arizona residents. 202585 3883 if you're up in arizona this morning and want to talk about this.

but go to mike in georgia on our line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. america,ism comes to a serious threat to the flag. one of the greatest sins, condemned by god -- the 10 commandments are written and it does not say thou shalt not be a homosexual. whenshows you what happens these people have full control of the government. lathe laws are meant to protect everybody. the same thing happened when the

azis took over and they were given the right to exterminate the jews. thatis the kind of america only caters to a certain group of people and excludes other folks. vetoes this bill, does not make her a hero. it is unbelievable, the kind of laws these people are passing. all these minorities voting republican, one day you will wake up in a country where the number will be tattooed on your arm. host: mike calling in from georgia. who writes in on her twitter page. "i think the governor should be to the bill because it opens the door to abuse our constitutional freedoms.

if passed, it will hurt arizona." we invite you to participate in that right now. those that think the governor should be towed the legislation -- should veto this legislation. the conversation happening on our facebook pagee as well. asking our viewers and are facebook followers, should the religious freedom bill? here's the opinion section of today's usa today. editorial or to any opposing view on the subject. we will start with a view of the editorial board writes that the legislation sb 1062 invites all matter of state sanctioned bigotry.

anybody who believes that interracial marriage is a sin to turn away a mixed-race couple who wants to buy wedding cake. owners who wanted to serve everyone can not force employees with certain religious police to do so. perhaps this was inevitable given the speed of which the gay-rights movement is expanding. it invokes questions from marriage to the obama 's controversial mandate that health insurance plans provide birth control and morning-after pills. these issues are moving rapidly through the courts. next to that is another piece from the group that has been pushing this legislation in the arizona legislature. she writes in her opposition

piece that arizona's legislation passed this bill to ensure that to worky is free according to their faith and clarifies that arizona's religious freedom restoration act is in line with the federal rfra. it came about because of the growing threats to religious freedom were sitting across our country. the is the president of arizona policy in today's usa today. if you want to read more on her views, the wall street journal today as well has a map talking about the status of the religious freedom restoration act and where that is in different states around the country. laws are inrfra green. this map of the united states, that's 18 states. the government can't burden an individual's exercise of religion without showing compelling government interest.

the orange states are states that if passed rfra-like provisions by court decision. you can see that in the wall street journal if you want to learn more about that. we are skipping with our colors. renée is waiting in california. good morning. caller: i wanted to correct one thing here. iticus that talks about man laying down with man. you guys get the views from the homosexual side but you also need to get the other side here. i don't believe in same-sex marriage. i hate the fact that people always want to compare homosexuality with racial. that has nothing to do with it. it is a lifestyle that they choose. i am an a store and christian, i should not be forced to make a cake for two women or two men. that is my right.

the thing about it is, god will in the end.al say his were never changes. it is all the same. it was a sin before and it's a sin now. god does not hate the sinner, he hates the sin. you worry about the example of the wedding cake. that example also brought up in today's washington post in their lead editorial in which they wrote about this. sayingnt on to say after that example, it strikes us is reasonable to expect when you open a store you will serve any law-abiding citizen that walks in the door. it does not mean that you approve. what do you think about that? caller: i said that before. that is something i do not believe in. if i choose not to do that, that spiritual belief. that's what the bible says. that's why i believe.

this is just the beginning. christians have to stand up and they have to stand up for your rights. choice.e an individual the word of god is what it is. that's it. host: that's renée calling in from los angeles this morning. we have a special line set up for arizona residents. matthew was waiting in phoenix. he is an independent. caller: thanks for having me. i don't have any bible verses to quote this morning. i honestly don't have to much of a problem with a bill like this passing. amounty's society, the of local backlash that will fall on any sort of business that righte to exercise that in terms of how they're operating this business would be

enough to take them out of the marketplace. i don't see too much of an issue with something like this passing. maybe i'm being shortsighted. host: there is a letter that was sent out by three members of the state senate who actually voted for this bill and are now asking the governor to veto this bill. i want to read you a bit of their reasoning, now asking for the veto. , "are serious intent was to create a shield for all citizen's religious liberties. it has been mis-categorized as religious intolerance. these allegations are causing our state in harm and we must send a clear message that arizona is a state that values will adjust tolerance and protects and values each individual's ability to follow their own conscience." if i was the governor myself, it would probably be

something that i would veto. just for my own personal beliefs. i think would be interesting to allow it to pass to see what would happen. from matthew calling in phoenix, arizona this morning. let's go to doug waiting our line for democrats in toledo, ohio. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. thented to comment on laws like supporting this. they see them on the giving side of a law like this. he never tend to look at themselves as being on the receiving side. i wonder how many these christians would support this law if they needed fuel or emergency auto repair and they happen to end up at an islamic owned gas station and the owner the back offace on the car and decided to not service their vehicle or allow

them to purchase fuel. it speaks to a larger issue. ande do one person's rights and another persons began? there is a difference between religiousfreedom and tyranny. if you start passing laws that allow people to discriminate or not serve people based on religious beliefs, you can get into a big mess. anybody can refuse service to anybody for any reason they can think of. lawink it's a ridiculous and the governor needs to be told. go to washington, d.c. on our line for republicans. good morning. thank you. i think i have finally calmed down a little bit. at first i was very for the veto of the bill.

as soon as i hear the voice of a -- i'm training to be a minister. deny the nomination because of the people who are claiming to be christian -- it's great when h you recite scripture -- the lack of knowledge, we will have a selective sense of scripture here by stating leviticus or this. how about when it says in psalms that here are the thrones of the house of david for the piece of druze alum ray. may those who love you prosper. may peace be with your ramparts. he is talking about peace. about?s all this going

i'm about gay marriage, gay sex, are you against overeating echo are you against over shopping? none of that is good either. what about not being faithful in ?our marriage echo who it's ridiculous that people want to be so arrogant. to see where it comes from, it is the arrogance at the beginning of sin. it is false pride. will keep on the subject for about the next 15 minutes or so. we want to point out some of the headlines that we mentioned at the top of the show for you. here's a story from today's washington times. house democrats push wage vote is the headline there. house democrats or sing a vote to increase the federal minimum wage him even as th harry

reid decides to slow walk the issue. it will kick off an official will forceive, which a floor vote on raising the minimum wage, even over the objections of the gop which controls the chamber. that story goes on to note that the democrats would need to get a majority of the numbers of sign thato actually petition. it says that something is not likely be had by democrats. one other story i want to point you to this morning that we mentioned, the white house meeting between president obama and speaker john boehner. otherat across from each for an hour on tuesday in mr. obama's office and quickly picked through a remarkably long list of issues. about economic matters like manufacturing, trade promotion and authority

and flood insurance, according to aides from both men. they discussed the affordable care act and the president bush for immigration overhaul and engaged in efforts to wind down the war in afghanistan. the process of getting a budget and stalled highway funding bills. several of the issues they talked about, it offered a rare moment of rabbit sharing by the leaders of the two dominant parties. on tuesdayth men called it, constructive, but offered no evidence that washington gridlock is over. that is a picture of the two men meeting in the oval office. that happened yesterday. also coming out of the white house yesterday, obama to karzai. time is running out for security deal. that is the headline in usa today. president obama tuesday offered a blunt warning to afghan president hamid karzai that time a dealing out to forge

to keep u.s. troops in that country until the end of the year. want to ensure that plans are in place to accomplish it hdrawal.ly with obama administration will not allow troops to remain in the country gone 2014 without an agreement. today, in several papers including the usa today. nashville, tennessee on our line for democrats. we continue to discuss this arizona bill, the so-called religious freedom bill in arizona. caller: good morning. unfortunately, i think a lot of are like thunder. i want to reiterate what they said.

i definitely think the bill should be vetoed. i see no difference between this bill and what was happening before civil rights. there were white only signs. are we going to have the signs out now, you can come in here because you are homosexual or you can come in here because you're a woman? or you can come in here because you were a christian? what a lot of people don't realize is it goes both ways. place and theyhe say, we don't like christians. you can go to a place and they say we don't like women or children. where does it end? i thought we have already fought this and one. i may not agree that homosexuality is right, but i do agree in everybody's right to have their rights. that is what we have to fight

for. that's what we have already fought for. everybody wants to use the bible. i definitely agree with the bible. they want to use it to keep people out. cindy wrightson on our twitter page -- "it is a question that should never be asked erie it is unconstitutional and just plain mean-spirited." says, whyrker discriminate? adultery is a sin. where's the bill for that? bible areion and what they reading echo they will lose the super bowl and other major companies. doing business with arizona. economically. eto, is what he says. from cnbc.com.

apple calls for a veto. it appears to be the latest firm to join other corporates urging brewer to veto this bill which supporters say will protect religious freedom and critics say could allow companies to use religious beliefs to discriminate against the gay and lesbian community. it is preparing to open a new sapphire glass manufacturing plant in mesa, arizona. that is expected to create more than 2000 jobs in engineering and manufacturing. apple confirmed that it asked arizona governor to veto the religious freedom bill. other big firms such as american airlines have urged her to veto the bill. our e-mail this morning mentioned the nfl. here's a statement from the nfl. the spokesman said yesterday that our policies emphasize

tolerance and prohibits discrimination based on age, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation or any other improper standard. we are following the issue in arizona and will continue to do so. watching this as they look ahead to a super bowl in arizona. let's go to one of those arizona residents in phoenix, arizona. steve is waiting. he is an independent. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. this is wrong on some he levels. gay people are people too. this just opens the door for discrimination by anybody for anybody for whatever reason they want. , i try totian

understand that i am different than my fellow man and therefore they are to me. for them to accept me, i have to accept them for who they are. i don't understand these people on anti-gay -- what about anti-greed? it is tough to live a christian life. think that as a christian it's good for us or jesus to tell any people they are not good enough. jesus came for the lost, not the bound. int: let's go to david kansas on our line for republicans. good morning. caller: good morning. i just wanted to say, any law that outlaws anybody from doing isthing that they want to do wrong. if gays want to hire

photographers, they should be allowed to hire photographers. does this law really prevent them from doing that? how can anybody be in favor of hearing the public response makes me glad we protect the rights of the minority. he says that we should be told veto that bill. host: obviously the law does not prevent gays from hiring photographers. asis a quintessential mean an american to be left to our police. there has to be a lot protecting religious photographers of any religion who want to withhold their services or focus those services on whatever markets they want to. whatevertomer go to marketplace where they can go

and do business with people that they are not making to feel accountable. right will religious have a lot in agreement with me. one of the other quintessential meanings to being an american is to stand up for the rights of people to be disagreeable. i think we did that and made that argument quite persuasively in regards to pornographers. the first amendment is not a menu of rights. as soon as we take away these freedoms of choice to conduct ourselves and have our own beliefs that we want, it's ok for all the bible versus to say here's what i believe and it's ok for everybody else to bibleee with those

verses, but it's not ok for one side or the other or any of the or ever haveo win to win. ,f i want to believe something let me. why do we need a law to protect them to offerw their services or withhold those services? this is not a distribution service. i think of another case elsewhere where there was a bakery. these are people making their own products. i'm a businessman. i'm not going to withhold my services from a paying customer. i'm not going to tell somebody else how to run their business. stories we other want to point out to you that are in the papers this morning. here's the wall street journal.

a column by dave camp. the tax code. you can read his proposal there. the congressman is the chairman of the house ways and means committee. the washington times today, hoping for a changed view of keystone xl. paul writes in his piece that -- we will be talking about the keystone. we will be joined by the senator from north dakota to talk about the keystone and other issues. we want to take you to an associated press report. obama health insurance at 4 million is the headline there. we will be talking about the rollout of the healthcare.gov with jonathan alter who wrote a recent piece on foreign affairs in our spotlight.

, behind the called aca rollout. here's a piece in the washington times on bill clinton. his message for democrats. picture of him with a kentucky democrat in louisville yesterday. himes.e talking with jim the national finance chairman of the house democrats. we will be talking about the 2014 field coming up in about five minutes or so. have a bit of time left. go to doug in wake forest, north carolina on our line for democrats. good morning. caller: thank you. for decades, the ar american people of wondered why

the middle east continues to blow itself up. the interpretation of ancient transcripts. i would like to say that one of you to the people of arizona for helping us find ourselves on the same path. host: let's go to john in florida on our line for independents. caller: i knew this was going to be the first piece when i heard about it yesterday. -- i'mm not hearing is hearing a lot of religion and atheists. i'm not hearing the simple question, is a naturally echo you come down to the issue, nobody wants to talk about homosexuality the act. they talk about two people in love. a nice, romantic, rosy picture. when you talk about the act itself, is that a natural act? is a natural for two men to have sex?

baby, i willve a vote for all the homosexual laws you want. line is, every single day, we are bombarded with homosexual stories in the media. every single day -- the whole purpose of this is to make something that everybody knows is a natural natural. unnatural, natural. for thousands of years, you have your ebbs and flows. there are times when it becomes popular and unpopular at other times. host: here's a headline from linda cho. gop on the arizona gay law, make it go away. -- headline from politico. they're not wanting to and tagged by social conservatives who oppose same-sex marriage or force business owners to go against their conscience. it goes on to quote orrin hatch from utah who said that we

should not have discrimination anyway. on the other hand, i think there is legitimate questions raised about whether businesses have to conform to certain moral standards that they agree with. issue and i pivotal don't know how to resolve it, honestly. that's what he said. how do you think this should be resolved? is they states right issue? we were founded on individual rights. we have our individual rights. my tolerance and and your tolerance begin? tolerance is not a one-way street. the homosexual community has to realize that there are a lot of people who don't agree with what they are doing. forget aboutimply religion. if i was an atheist, i would still come to the same conclusion that this is unnatural. host: john from florida on our line for republicans.

the congressman from arizona. his statement from yesterday on sb 1062. he says the people who pass this bill say that they're doing it to protect religious freedom. i don't know of any religion that teaches people to discriminate against those were different. this bill must be vetoed. it is just plain wrong. it certainly won't help us to rebuild arizona's economy. with his statement this week. let's go to george on our line for democrats. caller: good morning. i started the declaration of when he five years, but i've never seen it. we have the rights to do this nastiness. one word, nastiness. go back into the closets, please. there's nothing in the declaration of human rights that

states the right to do nastiness. thank you. the: that will do it for first 45 minutes. coming up, we are joined by congressman jim himes to talk election 2014 and his work for the democratic congressional campaign committee. dakota joins north us later to discuss the keystone next i plan and the pentagon's -- keystone xl pipeline and the pentagon's new budget plans. we will be right back. ♪

>> i think there are some myths out there. people who think the cherry is , it'sreserved product really not. it's no different from a pickled cherry. the brining process is no different from types of salt you useuse -- sulfates in making wine. it's a tasty treat. what you see are cherries in various stages of process. the cherries that come in, they still have brian in the fruit. they will go through an extensive washing to get the ne out of the free. the process is you are taking a it in fruit and soaking

sugar. color pick up. brews from earlier . they're lightly colored. darker color that one is. it's farther along. you'll see yellow, pink, deep red. it's that cycle of the infusion and where it is in the process. this weekend, book tv and american history tv look behind the history of literary life of salem, oregon. saturday at noon on c-span2. >> the new c-span.org website makes it easier than ever for you to keep tabs on washington, via and share your finds

facebook, twitter and other social networks. easy search functions let you access our daily coverage of events. new tools make it simple to create short video clips and share them with your friends via facebook, twitter and other social networks. or, you can send link to your video clips via e-mail. just find the shared tools on our video player or look for the green icon links throughout our site. watch washington on the new c-span.org. if you see something of interest, clip it and share it with your friends. >> "washington journal" continues. himeswe are joined by jim of connecticut. he serves on the congressional campaign committee for house democrats. standing in states the way of democrats retaking

the house. how do you like your chances right now eight months away from election 2014? it is an uphill fight in the house. it's an achievable but uphill fight. are not easy to win. these are seats in swing districts. we are pulling out all the stops. mis-of us are under any interpretation that this is an easy thing to do. it will be very interesting in months going into november. host: 17 seats. history standing in your way here. there is the so-called six-year itch. six years after president is elected, historically, his party does not do well in that midterm election. here's a chart from the washington post that talks about the gains and losses for the president's party in midterm elections.

you can see very few games as opposed to very many losses there. what is the thinking and the d ccc and going up against history here? guest: no president since james madison has been reelected with unemployment. there is no doubt that at the end of a presidency, the president's party swings against the current. never in history has a public the republican party decided we will shut the government down. we want to default on our debt. the ability of american companies to finance themselves, you have the chamber of commerce and others saying, where are these guys? this is not an election about historical trends. it's election about vision for the future is more persuasive. one of the ways to judge support this early in a campaign is fundraising.

your job at the dccc is the finance chairman. good news coming out of the end of 2014 for you on that front. raised 76 million dollars in 2013. that was the most of any of the four congressional party committees. what are you seeing on the campaign front? guest: we would like to see that a lot of those his grassroots donors were coming in with what $20 checks saying, we want to help. that gratifies us quite a bit. we are not sitting back here. in the new world of campaign finance, which is a pretty ugly world, $76 million is a drop in the bucket for the koch brothers. you get a couple billionaires who decided that they will do what shelly adelson did. gary peters is running for senate in washington.

facing 2 billion dollars of koch brothers money. we are not sitting back because the numbers look good. host: what do you need to raise? in $6.8 million in january. that is in comparison to the republican house campaign raising $6.1 million in january, ending with $24 million. what do you need to get those 17 seats? guest: you know what we really need? someday we will have a conversation about what we can do to have less money in the system. to get ourbe able message out to the american people. we need to be able to talk about middle-class jobs, about raising the minimum wage, about getting conference of immigration reform . these are central to our platform. these are all things that the other side is saying, hell no.

look at where they are. he spent the last half an hour talking about the republican favored for governor in texas was running around with a rock star who calls an african-american president a mongol. this gets through to america. they say, what in god's name? has happened to my ? i think the issues, where we stand on things like immigration reform and minimum wage and health care are things that will speak to the kitchen tables of the american middle class. viewers the sense of the house field according to the local report. there are currently 197 solid republican seats. 167 democratic seats in the house. , fivein the tossup column

republican and 13 democratic seats. likely or leaning republican or democratic categories. 32 republican, 27 democrats. is there enough seats in play for you to actually get to that 17 gain number? or do you need to expand the playing field here? guest: all of the above. that wed've imagined could be competitive against mitch mcconnell? we are against mitch mcconnell. y echo he has been around for a long time. kentuckians are benefiting from health-care reform. who would have thought that we for ave been competitive house senate seat? we are seeing a replay. women have a way of shutting that whole thing down.

this is a dynamic that is playing out in places in georgia where you have radical people saying things that'll make them very hard to elect in the general election. you have democrats saying it is time to stand up for the middle-class. the stock market has doubled in the last five years. an awful lot of people who are owners of stock mutual funds are doing pretty well. what about middle-class? that is the question that democrats have an answer to. host: if viewers have a question , give us a call. our phone lines are open. he numbers are -- -- ou're outside the u.s. you're the national finance democraticr the campaign committee. you serve on the house intelligence committee.

turn to the idea of who your message bearer will be in play 14. here's a headline from the wall street journal today. we talked about the story with our viewers already. role grows.tion campaigning for red state democrats. talk about the role of president clinton on the campaign trail. guest: it's a great and important role. here is a southern white man, a demographic that we aren't doing terribly well with right now. talking about kitchen table issues. people remember the kind of prosperity that was in place when bill clinton was president. the guy is a master. i don't care which side of the aisle you're on. you have to recognize that the guy really can move people and explain a platform. he will be really important in southern states to help with the democrats. host: compare his role with president obama. where do you see president obama

on the campaign trail? guest: he will be hugely helpful in mobilizing the folks that he mobilized in both of his presidential elections. he will not play everywhere. the president knowledges that and i've told people that. havingre places where the president campaigning on your side will be an important thing to get the turnout. national message bearer. there will be different people with different messages because this is a very big and diverse country. host: here is a recent comment of his from this past week. he made these remarks to the democratic governors association fundraiser. we know how to win national elections, but all too often it is during the midterms where we end up getting ourselves into trouble because we don't think it is sexy enough.

that is where so much of the action is. president obama with his comments to the dga. are a believer that we should get conference of immigration reform, there is one reason. the republican-controlled house. if you are in the senate, it would pass by more than 300 votes. that would be a huge economic boost. it would be a real support. minimum wage, same thing. john boehner is not bringing it up. americans are looking at that. 78 votes inoted favor of immigration reform. and they won't even take it up in the house? the president is exactly right. it's not just presidential elections that matter. it is midterm elections. it determines what happens in the house and the senate. host: let's get to viewer questions and comments. first question is from matthew on twitter.

"what are the dems doing to get young voters involved in the it ism elections?" guest: always a challenge to get young people interested in participation. it is a tragic thing. young people are the ones whose futures are being determined by the decisions we make today a on student loans and climate change. what are we doing? well people align pretty with the democratic platform. with the idea that anybody in this country should have the to the legal institution of marriage whether they are heterosexual or gay. i have kids. maybe thatration, was controversial. today, people say, that's right. , youtence of immigration name it. student loans come education. the look to the democrats for answers on that stuff. this is a generation that lives online. they're not watching tv.

the things our constituency did 20 years ago, matthew came on twitter. that's how you reach young people. you do it in a way that is authentic and meet them where they are come online. host: let's go to karen in illinois. our line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. we can have more years of nothing being done in the house. the house is supposed to represent also the sins. i would like to ask, is there any chance that citizens can be nullified? if the corporations are taking , the littleuntry person does not have a chance. guest: that's a great question. your observation

what has the house accomplished, right? a shutdown with the help of ted cruz, a shutdown defaulting on the cast we have created, we have not meaningfully talk about infrastructure in the country, which, i do not care if you are democrat or republican, you have to for -- be focused on. citizens united very unfortunately challenging. the supreme court ruled dollars equals speech, which is absurd. i am not a lawyer, but i will approach the suit -- the supreme court with some humility. it is the incredibly wealthy individuals. i mention the hundreds of millions of dollars in the presidential election, the koch brothers, it is less corporations in the country as it is these well -- these very wealthy individuals who will by

the house of representatives. what are our packs? one is regulating it. at the end of the day, it an amendmentwe get to the constitution that says, while we aggressively protect free speech, we will not equate you handing $1 million to his notte candidate, we will equate that with free speech. >> richard wrightson on twitter, you complain about the coke brothers but ignores priorities usa. that is true. they get swamped. george soros has not played an election for six years now. a fair point. i am not looking to score partisan points on the issue of money in our elections. the reality is we have to figure where, just as

founding fathers intended, people are elected based on constituents, not how many millions of dollars are thrown into a race. it is a fair point the individual makes. everybody. corporations, individuals, super packs, unions. aboutuld argue afghanistan and taxes. that is great stuff. thehould not argue about engine, which is our democracy. when the engine is running on money, rather than voter choice, we have got a big problem. >> let's go for our independent line. roy, you're on. took my thunder there about the koch brothers and george soros. the unions is what really has me. not understand how they can take union members money and give it to the democratic party

when union members usually do not even want to give that money. i do not understand how you could just keep taking it. then you bring -- blame the koch brothers for your side. thank you. >> yes. thank you. i'd knowledge in the last question, it is both sides playing the money game. me a choice between unions, which historically in the country for many generations have stood up for worker safety, for a decent wage for working people in the country, and the coke others, who are not interested in those things, i can tell you where i come out. your point is right. doingnot just one side this. it is too much money permeating the system. unfortunately, some problems have answers that have solutions that just need to be brought to the floor to be voted on. this one does not have an easy solution. our dealing with an interpretation of the united states. host: we are to talk about the

playing field looking at for 2014. week -- the political report showed 348 of the seats are in safe districts. eyes on twitter -- great question. one of the reasons seats are safe is because the lines have been drawn to make them safe. god bless care for and you. it is one of -- california. state. gerrymandered an have seats changing interesting primaries. the rest of the country needs to do that. i represent a district that is a swing district and is moderate. as a consequence, i am on my toes all the time. i have to listen to everybody, not just my democratic base. it is a swing district. your point is exactly right. in the last house election,

democrats won in the aggregate by almost 1 million and a half this is the aggregate. the people's house supposed to be determined in the most democratic manner. win by 1 million and a half votes and are down by 17 sees. that is gerrymandering. to jime are talking to take your comments and questions. tom is up next from lafayette, louisiana, on our republican line. i would like to ask the congressman if he voted for obama care. guest: i did. caller: how long did it take you to read it before you voted on it? guest: nine months before we voted on it. not an easy thing to read. a lot of statutory language, but it took some time to read it.

and there were multiple versions of it. i found myself reading it mogul times. caller: -- multiple times. caller: thank you. i want to talk about the health-care law and its impact on the election and how you think it will play. the national republican congressional meeting highlighting the support of the president over the health-care law. oclip] patchett refused to criticize obama's website for weeks, hardly blowing the whistle. days ago, kirkpatrick voted against the bipartisan bill to help fix the website. still lawyer -- loyal to obama care. she cause the problem and she is the problem. how do you see the

health-care law playing in the 2014 election? will the ads make a difference yucca -- difference? to answer your question, member five years ago and this is being considered, we were going to have death panels. we would scare you with death panels. there were no death panels, but sarah palin said their work. now you have got americans running around saying there is a death panel. a terrible bill. complete baloney. now you have this thing which you just played. and kirkpatrick knows there are tens of thousands of people in her district. people who had diabetes, who were recovering from cancer, who, for the first time in their lives, had health insurance and had that security. she also knows as does the rest of the country, that the last four years, costs and the health care system, if you care about the future of the country, cost

number one is the health. so many costs have been historically low for so many years. 13 maybe 14 million people in the country now have coverage. i'm talking about young people on harron's plans, medicaid expansion. is it a perfect law? absolutely not. the idea in that ad that republicans put forward a good-faith effort to fix the health care, that does not pass the smell test for anybody in the country. they know since that past, the republican party has voted to repeal it. that means 14 million people in this country or so who do not have health insurance tomorrow morning because john boehner exceeded in repealing the bill. it is not perfect anymore than medicare or social security were perfect right out-of-the-box. standing the first one in line when republicans say they want to fix some of the problems in the law and engage

in this in a meaningful and good-faith way. but they are throwing people off insurance and handing control entirely back to the insurance companies. most americans, by november, we will have a lot more americans with insurance coverage. panels ando death there are millions of americans who have health insurance now. our democrat line, john. the democrats do not know how to publicize themselves. putting money into campaign funds, democrats and it was a republican supreme court. republican members made the law. then democrats said they have no charge. they had to start raising money to keep up with it. it is a conservative

court. i do not like to think of it as democrat and republican. but i like to believe they leave their partisanship a little more behind than we do in the house of representatives. the ruling, whatever you think and whoever ruled on it, some of the issues are tough, that was a ruling i think started to erode the foundation of our democracy in the country. i could not agree with you more. i did not mention this when we were talking about it before. another alternative is for the supreme court to reverse itself and say, we ought to get one man and one woman back to the vote, as opposed to writing checks. not something we can wave a magic wand on or pass legislation on. this health care thing, when they said you could keep your doctor, the doctor not the one who want

that trial to change the phony insurance policy they had, right? like the medicare obama has are just dropping down planes. insurance companies that won't go along with these phony policies they have. democrats do not explain that. >> you are right. this has been a real problem. and got a lot of attention the president was clear if you like your health care plan, you got to keep it. caserned out to not be the for a relatively small number of americans, but they were in a bad way and they felt rightly so that the president had not been straight with them. a lot of those plans, first of all, were pretty add value for the money. a lot of americans use to get ambushed by the plans. they were very cheap lans, but you get what you paid for in this world and they were very

cheap plans, but when you actually got sick and you needed the insurance to kick in, it was not there. a $10,000 deductible. you were born bankrupt when i kicked in. i talked about some of the good things in the health-care bill and that was one of the liabilities and challenges and problems that i hope we can address over time. but yes, a lot of plans that were canceled were plans that wound up ambushing a lot of plans and american families. john said twice, democrats do not publicize themselves and do not explain when it comes to the health-care law. are there better ways you should be communicating heading into the 2014 campaign? >> i hear this a lot and i kind of agree with it. a senator had a very funny thing about it, which is, you look at the health-care law, the republican bumper sick or is, government takeover of health care. that is absurd. insurance companies are getting tons of business here they are

private. saying government takes over health care does not say -- make sense. the democratic bumper sticker is a lot of words and the last words are continued on the next bumper sticker. we have a hard time telling the story. i would like to believe we are a little less willing to come up with fictions like death panels and government takeover of health care. but yes. so how do you fix that? appeal toot to american values. righteir sense of what is and wrong. let's start with the proposition , in the greatest and wealthiest country in the world, do you think it is right that the wealthy guy whose daughter gets leukemia gets the very best treatment on the planet, but if you are middle-class and unemployed, and you have no insurance, your daughter will die? it is not something most americans will in their heart except as right here the next

question is, what do we do about that? what are the mechanisms? it gets, located, but you have got to start with this idea. in the greatest and wealthiest country in the world, do we want anybody hungry, uninsured, uneducated? and we are there. we have people who are hungry and uneducated. what will we do about it? this is where the democratic message comes through. we are not perfect. have the democrats supported plans in the past that did not work? of course we have. we are actually thinking about and putting forward solutions, some of which really work. social security and medicare are cornerstones of american prosperity. >> you brought up immigration a couple times. answer this question from dana on twitter. if we legalize millions of people, where do my kids work? guest: a new immigrant in this

country three times more likely than a nonimmigrant to start a business in this country. they're not living in the shadows or hiding out in basis. they are starting small businesses, where the jobs are at. that is one answer to the question. let's call that main street. absurdities of our current immigration plan is that people come from all over the world to our universities. we have the best universities in the world. they come from pakistan, egypt, india, they get educated and get a masters degree and develop software, and then they leave. google, one of the most powerful and largest companies in the world. work when they immigrants come here and get educated and we hand them a green card? bob is waiting on our line for independents calling from new york this morning. thank you for calling.

caller: good morning. i had some things i wanted to get out, but i have been taken by the- taken aback falsehoods you are stating here. when harry reid decides -- democrats to take over the senate. it is a year when obamacare just , we foundon c-span out only 20% -- 80% of people sign up for obamacare actually paid. 20% of the number being pushed are not actually in the program. the government and the will of the people. i do not understand where that comes from's since you are pushing obamacare. it is not the will of the people or even half the country. you cannot make the assertion the entire country is democratic and you have been empowered to make a decision on our health care by yourself without consulting the other members of this entire nation.

host: let's let the congress then jump in and respond. bob is making the point that somehow the health-care bill got passed illegitimately. this was a charge we heard for many years, that it was unconstitutional. in may not like this act and the first two years of the obama administration, you had a democratic-controlled house and a democratic-controlled senate and a democratic-controlled president, you may not like that but those people were legitimately elected and those people who cost to the congress of united states passed a bill which instantly the critics said was unconstitutional and it goes to the spring court, which we established is a darn conservative supreme court, and it said this is constitutional. you cannot sharon -- challenge the law based on the process by which it was passed. can you say there are problems with the law? i would be the first to say that. there are also fabulous things happening, like americans who have covered for the first time, like the fact insurance companies are now required to

spend $.85 of every dollar you pay them on health care rather than on advertisements on tv and salaries for the ceo. there are a lot of good things america. there are problems with it. we have never passed a major law in the country that did not have a gestation. historically, the opposition party said we do not like this thing and we want to change it over time, but it is passed so we will work to ease its passage. this is not what we have seen with the health-care law. it is doing a lot of good. has some problems. i would love to see those fixed. but the notion it was somehow passed improperly, the supreme court has ruled on that and that was yesterday's idea that is simply without merit. act, the affordable care what do you think the rollout of healthcare.gov and all of the proms with that website does for trying to sell this ahead of the 2014 election, and what will happen down the road. on her twitter page --

guest: let's be clear as day on this thing. was aalthcare.gov rollout complete and unmitigated disaster. in the calm of things i am saying, and i will try to get the critics of the health-care law to agree there are good things in it and i will agree there are bad things, that is firmly in the screwup column. it was bad not just in that it was difficult for a lot of americans who wanted to sign up up now they are signing that they can come another thing we should consider, but it also fundamentally played into an idea that government cannot get it right. it has been fixed and it has been working. my state of connecticut, it is working terrifically. played into a notion critics have that the government cannot do anything right. politicalhave implications. the good news is, it has been fixed and americans are signing up in droves. critics have got to look at this.

you may not like the law, but americans are signing up in droves. not each of them are sending in their checks on time but people do not do that with their electric bill either. i think, and carol may be right, i think as we get toward november, as the problems get worked out, this thing will not be hugely popular, but more and more people will see the benefits of the law. >> as we showed our viewers earlier this morning, about 4 million people have signed up according to the president and his announcement yesterday. for viewers interested in the we will it is a subject tackle later today coming up at 9:15 in our spotlight on magazine segment of the washington journal. , awill talk with jonathan writer for forbes affairs magazine. headline,e to launch how obamacare -- how obama fumbled healthcare.gov. we have 10 minutes left with the

congressman. we want to get to more calls. jim is in detroit, michigan, on our line for democrats. caller: good morning. i agree with some of the previous callers talking about the communication issues democrats seem to stumble into from time to time. obviously, the health-care , as thewas a disaster congressperson has already said. , whereas thenk democrats may have stumbled in terms of execution, i think basically -- well, let me jump back and just say, in terms of communications, i think what i would like to see the democrats more forcefully -- to paraphrase

kanye west, george not caring about black people, i tend to think republicans do not care about poor people. as romney himself alluded to, the 47% comment. know, they are against unemployment benefits. --y are against extending raising the minimum wage. >> we got it. congressman? >> we talked about this a little bit and i think a lot about it. it is true democrats tend to get twisted up in their own laundry a little bit when it comes to communicating. there is a whole bunch of reasons for that. one of the reasons is none of the problems we struggle with our simple problems. a party who will look you in the eye and say is real simple like folks on the other

side do. it is not simple. it is very comp gated. we tend to get twisted up in our laundry on the communication side. but as you point out, american people are not dumb. they are commonsensical and smart. when you look at the policies, we may not get the gold medal for always getting everything else right, but you say, they took a crack on a huge problem on health care, they passed a dodd frank to protect main street from predators that brought down the economy in 2008, is dodd frank perfect? no. but democrats took a real crack at making a safer system. republicans opposed health care. of immigration reform, we are pushing it like mad. they are saying no. you cannot govern by saying no to all the stuff and not offering alternatives. where is the republican immigration plan? there is not one. the republican health care plan? there is not one. let's go back to the way things work. an idea they ultimately abandoned, the iraq war, that

was an idea that george w. bush administrated. when you actually ask yourself, what are the ideas, we win this election. have got toou communicate those ideas and we have a challenge with that. jim himes, i want to get you to comment on the role of business in the 2014 election and where they will be. carly from minneapolis writes in -- e-mail, guest: she may be overstating it a little bit. there are a lot of businesses that will not jump to the democratic side.

but the point is absolutely valid. think about the export import bank. not something many americans pay attention to. republicans want to shut it down. it is a critical mechanism for exporters. shutting down the government with all the chaos that caused for private business. republicans saying, let's default on our debt, and anybody who has had finance 101 knows the u.s. default thing on debt .s a chaos businesses saying, what if we got going here? that does not mean they will necessarily support the democrats, but diverse is a pretty group of people. on my side of the aisle, there is a temptation to beat up on those corporations. the answer here is, of course, let's have corporations being good citizens in this country, well regulated, stable, employing americans. on my side of the aisle, people vilify corporations.

they are the big evil corporations. my hope is we can come to recognize businesses large and economies the greatest in the world. let's think about making them more competitive. left-wing about getting regulation right. we should think of our businesses as employers of the american people. we have to do what we can to and supportm well them. >> we want to talk about retirement and how it is playing into the 2014 election. 40 members of the united states how so far, 42 republicans anthemic -- 70 democrats, announced they will not seek reelection in 2014 or they are running for other posts in the senate. it lawmakers not running for reelection, five democrats.

here is a headline on this subject from last month. they write retirements are currently hurting democrats house prospects. >> we are seeing a retirement announcement every day. mike mcintyre of north carolina announces he is retiring. the democrats trying to keep that seat in north carolina. that is a huge challenge for us. maybe this week we have more retirements working against us. i have not looked at the list lately, but there are others. gary miller retiring in california. that is a seat we should be able to win. in utah, a difficult seat to keep. what do we see in the last week it is remarkable, the pace with which people are retiring. in any given week, one party or the other may be up or down on the seats. you're not too concerned on that seat? >> it is pretty democratic. we take nothing for granted.

when ted kennedy can be replaced by senator brown, we take nothing for granted. a story in the paper today, an announcement expected from john dingell, the announcement according to the new york times is expected on friday to run for the seat of her husband, the longest-serving member of congress who announced his retirement on monday. if you want to read an interesting piece about debbie , david and her chances hawkins has a piece. if she wins that seat, she would become the first person to ever come to congress and -- as the a living spouse. he writes in his piece there are currently two women and the hundred 13th congress who hold seats that "our spouses died. that is california democrat willie caps.

an interesting piece in roll call, if you want to read that. youre time we have left, financial fundraising, what are your goals for the end of the important quarter here? our goals are about trying. to thever some relief american middle class. it means raising the minimum wage and comprehensive immigration reform. it means something i have been fighting for for five years unsuccessfully. investing in our infrastructure. put people to work. we are not at november yet. i bristle at the notion guys like me ought to be focused primarily on november. the economy has recovered a lot and people are doing better than they were five years ago but it has a long way to go and as long as that is true, any congressman who wakes up and starts thinking first about november as opposed to what we should do all day long to help the economy along probably should not have a job.

host: we appreciate you joining us this morning. up next, we are joined in the studio by republican center -- senator john hoeven. later in our weekly spotlight on magazine segments, author jonathan alter joins us on his piece in foreign affairs. first, we will give you a news update from c-span radio. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] president vladimir putin has reportedly ordered an immediate test of combat readiness of troops in western russia. the state news agencies are quoting the defense ministers, saying president clinton ordered the test at 2:00 p.m. moscow time today. the report did not mention ukraine, one of russia's western neighbors, where months of protest have forced a pro-russia president to go into hiding. the president was not able to

confirm the order and the defense ministry not available for comment. louisiana government bobby jindal is defending his harsh criticism of president obama saying, in america, we do not have a king. the republican was criticized by a democratic governor, molloy, on monday. after they emerged from others from a meeting with the president said the president seems to be waving the white flag of surrender on the economy. governor jindal in remarks earlier today says the white house in his words belongs to the people. he had a duty to speak his mind. is not at thea white house today. he is on the road traveling. minnesota focusing on the roads and railways. this fund is forecast to go broke as early as august enemies $100 billion over the next six years just to maintain current spending levels. c-span is covering the event you can hear later in our

programming schedule. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. told both ase students and a nation in terms of popular imagination is that there are all kinds of citizens and margins and demonstrations that occurred, but they are really done by these famous and iconic people. basically, rosa parks, who was so tired she refused to get up from the bus in montgomery, alabama, and sparked a bus like hot, and a young preacher who even the president referred to during the election as a young preacher from georgia, done -- dr. martin luther king jr., who leads the masses of african americans from racial oppression. the notion that rosa sat and andin could do this stuff barack could fly and all of these things, they sound good, but they really simplify a much

more competition history. involves so really many african-americans, women and men who proactively dismantled racial segregation, including rosa parks. rosa parks was an activist. she did not just refused to give up her seat by accident. it was a concerted and strategic effort to try to transform democratic institution. >> the university history peniel joseph. sunday, he will take your fortions in depth live three hours starting at noon eastern on c-span2's booktv. >> washington journal continues. host: we are joined now by senator john hoeven, republican a key voice for the passing of

the republican keystone xl pipeline. a lot has happened since we had one last fall. the point ate past the state department has issued its report on this, how confident are you the keystone xl will get approved? >> it is hard to say. i have been working to get it approved. we are in year six. it has been five plus years in the approval process. unfortunately, the administration's approach is to defeat the project with delays. that continues. putting pressure through the congressional process. that is really what it will come down to, whether we can put enough pressure on the ministration to approve it. how to the environmental impact statement change the debate? guest: it clears the way for approval. it made it very clear there is no significant environmental impact and it again really clears the way to approve the project.

the administration continues through the process, but i think that is the fifth analysis done by the state department that really clears the way for the project. >> what are you thinking? construction might be able to begin on this? in nebraska, a judge there in the state district court determines the process nebraska had gone through was not proper. >> in their state. >> yes. the court determined the governor made the decision, pursuant to a law the nebraska state legislature passed and this decision should have been put before the state public service commission. so that is on appeal now in nebraska. the question is whether the administration will use that as a further delay or move forward and make a decision. again, they have continued to delay it, so we will see, but

until we get a decision on the permit, the project cannot go forward. this debatehout over the keystone xl pipeline, talk about how many jobs the pipeline will create, the state department determined in its review it would be about 2000 construction jobs per year over a two-year time. 3.4 would contribute billion dollars to the u.s. gross domestic product, and also as welle indirect jobs that this pipeline could create. do you agree with their findings on the jobs numbers? there are a lot of different estimates on the job. the state department said 42,000 jobs. that is the jobs number they had in their environmental impact statement. direct and indirect, 42,000 jobs. there are higher and lower estimates, but that is what they are using. remember it is not just the jobs you create. a $5.3 billion project.

you have got that investment and the construction, the activity that goes with economic -- economic activity that goes with that. we'll great hundreds of millions in tax revenue. will not cost the federal government a penny but it will generate significant revenues at the local and state level, as well as federal level, to help reduce the deficit. most important of all, it is about energy independence for our country. it is about working with canada and producing energy in this country so that we get our energy here locally rather than having to get it from the middle east. that is what americans want. they want us to be energy secure in this country. to do that, we need to produce more energy like we are doing in my state of north dakota and montana across the border. movepipeline would mode -- that loyal as well as canadian oil. it is about producing oil here, or getting it from our closest friend and neighbor, canada, rather than being dependent on the middle east. classification you to have to wait on a pipeline, how safe

israel transportation of these products versus pipeline transportation? is it.that we are becoming more energy secure. it is great. it is jobs and what people want. to go with that energy, we need infrastructure. that infrastructure includes pipelines as well as moving products safely by train or truck. the keystone xl will take 500 trucks a day off rose in western north dakota. it is a safety issue in our state. it is not about any one project. it is about developing all the info structure in the right mix as part of a conference of energy plan for the country. host: a big rail accident in north dakota at the end of last year. we have got pictures from that at the site of a train derailment. this train was carrying crude oil. sort of impacted the debate on the best way to move the products?

guest: in north dakota, we are now producing almost one million barrels of oil a day. the number continues to go higher. it is good for our country. it is jobs and independence. we have got to move that as safely as possible. we are now moving about 800,000 barrels a day by rail. we need pipelines as well as rail and trucks in the right mix to do this as safely as possible. and we have to take more steps to move the crude oil and other products safely on the rail. we will move more product on the rail. we have to take steps in a to vote fore way that derailment as best we can and make sure there is a derailment. we are talking with senator john hoeven. republican. we will open the phone lines. --

while folks are dialing in, i want to get your reaction to the release of the pentagon budget that has made a lot of headlines this week. here is the headline from the usa today yesterday. -- talking about the new budget proposal, calling for an army to shrink to its smallest sizes in decades, 440,000 to 450,000 what wasare 2019 is released by the pentagon. your reaction? a real concern. they are talking about reducing down to about 440,000. we had anticipated something more like 490,000. it is a real concern in terms of how it treats our national guard. i was a governor for 10 years. our guide is vitally important and they do a tremendous job.

there has to be strong support for the guard. creates real concerns in terms of taking military numbers down to that level. technology, there is no question we have to maintain our technology advantage and make sure our forces, whether it is army, navy, marine, air force, of course, our guard and coast guard, we have to make the absolute best technology, that we have the technological edge in any kind of confrontation we find ourselves. we have to maintain that but it means we will have to make some choices. you see some choices in there, for example, going to the global system, the new technology for reconnaissance and so forth, rather than the old u2 -- the old gary powers and u2 and spy planes in cuba, back in the ussr days.

with newerant we go technologies. we have to make some of those cost-saving choices, but in terms of personnel benefits and how we're handling the military, i think there are real concerns here that congress will weigh in with pretty strong feelings. the senator serves on the appropriations military construction veteran affairs subcommittee and studies these issues for that subcommittee. he is here to take your questions and comments. with eric from freeport, texas, on our line for democrats. good morning. have a few questions. how many gallons of gasoline and do executive sell to foreign countries everyday? guest: right now, we produce a little over half the crude oil we consume in the country domestically. that has been going up here to

get -- together with what we get from canada and mexico, so north american oil production, we 75% of what wend consume. the rest comes from venezuela and the middle east, and that of the whole point. we want to produce more hear directly so we do not have to bend -- to defend countries that have interests that are different from our own. we are still our net supporter. ofler: how many gallons gasoline and diesel do we sell to countries everyday? guest: i do not have an exact number for you. primarily, the products we cannot use in this country. some of the heavier products and that thing we cannot use in the country. once the oil is refined, some of those products are sold. as far as exporting crude oil, actually, a company has to get approval from the department of energy.

otherwise, they are in a lot -- not allowed to export crude oil. i do not have a specific number on what products are sold overseas. we are a net importer of oil. talking about the pipeline issue, on twitter -- guest: the oil companies that are responsible. that is something we work very hard on. what kind of steps can we take to make it safer? what can we do with routing and and training,ting making sure the right product gets in the right kind of cars and is properly labeled with both the railroads and shippers having emergency response plans. how do we get safer railcars out on the tracks? they are using a lot of department of transportation 111 cars. those are the older models. they are transitioning to a 1232 car, a stronger, double hold on the ends car, a bigger

superstructure. all of those things have to be implemented in a comprehensive way to make sure we are moving cruelly -- crude more safely. host: charles, florida. good morning. caller: good morning. is, we had five dollars a gallon gasoline. we were told we had no capacity for refining anymore because we economy peak when the was at its best. now, we're going to ship all of our canadian oil down and they and we willacity all pay more again per gallon of gasoline. like the fella from texas said, all the gas and everything is

leaving the country. there is an, i think misperception. there are some products we do not use and some amount of refined leads -- leaves the country, but we have to make more than produced in order to have enough for domestic consumption. to make sure we have enough refining capacity to meet domestic needs. think we want that refining capacity in our country so we control it, rather than being dependent on some other country, and we want to continue to build our ability to produce energy in this country, whether crude oil or natural gas or other sources of energy in the country, so we rather thanecure, being dependent on other countries. the senator is answering your questions and take your comments.

here is a map from the washington post showing the existing pipeline routes and proposed routes, some of the existing routes going through your state and north dakota. on the national security question, writing and on our twitter page -- guest: obviously, i would like to make sure our soldiers and greens are all well compensated and that we take care of their needs in terms of benefits and health care. in terms of the number, that is the challenge, to make sure we and the right number right mix to defend the country and protect our interests worldwide. it is kind of asked as an either or and that is not how i would approach it. i approach it on the basis of really working with did -- the department of defense and the

experts in the military to determine what our needs are and ofe sure we are taking care our men and women in uniform well, as well as our veterans, because they do so much for our country, and that we have got the technology to make sure we always have the technology advantage. it is vitally important anytime we put someone in harms way, we need to make sure they have the best equipment and that they are the best prepared and trained. john is waiting in minneapolis on our line for republicans. questions.ouple of i now, most of the refining is based in the gulf, which makes sense because we import so much from overseas. would it not make sense to possibly make arts of north dakota, have some more refineries up there, because we have oil coming from the states

and canada, so turn north dakota into a refining state? if powers be say it is ok? the next question, it deals with taxes. if you're going to have all the soil and all the state tax revenue coming in, is it as a federalyou government, they want to enforce regulations and withhold moneys that come to unless you do this, if you have all the tax money, is it possible to say, we will pay for our own bridges and our own schools, and not have to necessarily follow the regulations? you have your own income coming in. i think he really poses some interesting points here in his questions. as far as refineries, right on, absolutely. as a matter of fact, we are building a refinery near north ,akota, the utilities company

partnering to build a new greenfield refinery in our state of north dakota. that goes to his first question. actually, the three affiliated on a new also working refinery as well. we potentially have several new refineries going up in our state. we also have a refinery operated -- so yes, i think you are right on and we do want to expand our refining capacity. we have the most omissions. those are very high paying jobs. it adds value. it is good economic activity that helps our economy. right on. that is one of the opportunities we have with energy development in our country. as the caller pointed out in essence with this question, it also generates a tremendous amount of tax revenue, not through higher taxes, but through an expanded economic ace and those tax revenues can be used to build the vital infrastructure we need, which we talked about earlier. ormeans not only more rail

more pipelines and that sort of thing, but roads and schools and bridges and all of those things. north dakota is now the fastest growing state in the country. we are trying to keep up with our growth. but we have the revenues because of our economic goals. we have actually cut taxes. as a governor, i cut taxes. we continue to cut taxes. we are going revenue base because of all of the economic activity. we are pouring a tremendous amount of the billions into our schools and building more roads and the vital infrastructure we need to handle our growth and work to maintain the quality of life in our state. from, northyou're dakota, you probably have a good pulse on what canadians think about the keystone xl pipeline. can you talk about what's or pressure they're putting on the white house when it comes to the pipe line? president obama, prime

minister, and the president from esco just had a meeting and the summit last weekend talked about a range of issues. one of the issues the prime minister of canada brought up to the obama administration is, canada has been waiting five ands, over five years, transcanada, the canadian company that wants to build the keystone xl pipeline, has been waiting more than five years. it is vitally important to canada because it is a big part of their economy up there for energy production. they want to work with the united states, but if they cannot, if they cannot get a permit, to bring the oil to the united states to be refined and used, they will have to look for other markets. clearly, the chinese have artie indicated a strong interest in getting that oil. that is why it is so important that we move on this and continue to work with canada to create that energy -- energy independence, the energy security we want and need. on our line for democrats,

ohio. good morning. you are on. caller: good morning. i have a couple questions to ask you about the keystone pipeline. safe is that? is that going to be going through a lot of people's property and going to different neighborhoods? is that going to be doing that? because i hear the republican party said the majority of the people want this and how many jobs it will create. can you answer that question for me? he races really good points in his question. there are thousands and thousands of pipelines that crisscrossed the united states right now.

some are older and some more more recent. this will be the newest technology with all of the latest safeguards. oile do not move that pipeline, -- by pipeline, you would have to move the by rail car and trucks and other means and understand to move that much oil,,000 barrels a day of but take something like 1400 rail cars a day that would have to move on track and through communities and so forth, rather than through a pipeline which has all of the latest technology to ensure it is safe. i again want to make the point we have millions of miles of pipeline right now that crisscrossed our country that move oil and natural gas and other products. all of that has to be done safely. we have regulatory authorities that work very hard.

the pipeline and hazardous materials safety administration at other regulatory entities both the federal and state level have worked really hard to make sure those pipelines are safe. and looked after by the company that own them. this would be the newest with the latest technology and safeguards. let's go to randy waiting in michigan on our independence line. -- our line for independents. good morning. i am a truck driver who can haul hazardous materials and can move your oil. you realize when truck drivers drive around the country, we have to stop and we have to eat all over the country. you just got done saying he would lose 500 truck driving jobs. at the beginning of this, you said it would only create 50 jobs. one of the reasons i stopped --ck driving and now i have i am a certified welder, stainless steel and

foodgrade stainless steel at all of those are jobs created. you cannot outsource those jobs. republicans seem to be trying to outsource any job. those areing jobs, 50,000 dollar a year jobs. you only want to pay 10 or $15 to these people. you want them to make 35,000 -- dollars an hour. you want to continue to keep getting reps -- rich. we pay for it and you get all the money. it working very hard to create jobs in our state in north dakota has been the number one job creator in terms quite aof growth for number of years. in actuality, we will create more jobs for truck drivers and not less. we cannot get enough truck drivers in our state. well morey are paying than $50,000 a year for truck drivers. the issue is not eliminating truck driving jobs. the reality is we will continue

to need more truck drivers. as we produce more and more oil, going -- we need to move it by pipeline, rail, and truck. , we want tocase of have -- we won't have more truck drivers. we will have more because we need them for other tasks as well. i would like to invite -- >> usa it is not a zero-sum game . you need all of the above. i would like to invite him or other truck drivers to come to our state. we need more truck drivers. we will need more truck drivers and other skill sets as well. host: i want to go back to the .ilitary plans they are worried the pentagon is closing -- that is something you're working on. very important we

maintain all three legs of the nuclear tried. that means icbm. missiles in the silos that are strategic in asset. the bombers, and of course the slb m's, the summaries. we need the stronger nuclear deterrent, not only to prevent froma or any other country ever threatening us, but also, we see what is going on with north korea and around these newer nuclear threats. , as former to president reagan always said, have peace through strength. it is very important we maintain the nuclear triad. silosdo we know how many the pentagon is considering closing and how that would affect your state? guest: they are talking about the 450 we have. we have 150 silos in my state. they have not identified whether they would produce the silos in

north dakota, montana, those are the three states we have in each location. the reality is even if they of , they should retain the silos as a strategic asset, which they can do under the new treaty. -- the new start treaty. that is what we are advocating for. it is about getting it in the right mix the right way. reducing the silos is not the way to go. that is the legislation i have written and will continue to work with the department of defense to make sure they do not approach it that way by eliminating a strategic asset that we need, but rather by getting the right mix in the right way. have less than 15 minutes left was senator hoven. let's go to jack, providence, rhode island. republican line. caller: good morning.

ais project seems to be no-brainer. if you evaluate the pros and the cons. host: you're talking about keystone xl? caller: yes sir, i am. on the national security issue, the north koreans, they have been -- since -- came in to since the second world war. keystone, i to believe the senator would know this. he seems like an expert. the upstate new york area found a good amount of oil. i could be corrected if i am wrong. if i am correct on that, why is the entities that can drill for the oil are not going there? is it regulatory issues?

i am going to hang up now and listen. guest: i want to thank the caller for the question. i think he is right. we have to start developing public works projects like the pipelines. you have private investment in the hundreds of billions ready to go if we could get the administration to stop the regulatory burden that is preventing an investment, which will create jobs and economic activity, not only getting people back to work, but revenues without raising taxes to address the debt and deficit. that is how you get the economy going -- private investment. he goes on to talk about upstate new york and what is called the marsalis shale. it is a national gas plane. think about how much natural gas is consumed in the new england like new yorks city. marsalisoduce that

shale gas in upstate new york, you have a tremendous market right there. you will create a tremendous number of jobs, provide energy at lower cost and will create tax revenues. the fracking issue? callerguest: it is not being don new york state. the regulations prevent them from developing the marsalis shale in new york state. in pennsylvania, they are developing it and creating jobs and revenue. natural gas is dividing energy at lower cost for pennsylvania. the people in new york by that gas from pennsylvania. why would you produce it in new york? forte jobs, create revenue schools, health care, all of these things. that is how you grow your state

economy and the national economy. the caller is bringing up an important point. the people in new york should take a hard look in developing that natural resources. host: mike hom ohio, democrat line. caller: good morning. i love your show. getting to watch this kind of programming and i would like to ask the senator about the alaskan pipeline. influence -- the difference between that and what is going on right now. --y said this will make our you know, independent from foreign oil and i do not recall seeing any of that. i would like to ask him how he is going to vote on the unemployment compensation, if he feels like answering that.

the alaskan pipeline went through some of the same difficulties in that it took a long time to get permitted. trans-alaskan pipeline has the capacity to move 2 million barrels a day. that is oil produced in alaska that we use in this country as part of supplying the oil supply to this country. largest oil-producing state behind texas, that has changed because north dakota now produces more oil than alaska. we have been able to produce most of our oil on private land. onalaska, much of it is public land. because of regulation, they cannot grow their oil production. they have a pipeline, the alaskan pipeline, that can move 2 million barrels of oil a day, but there are only 600,000 barrels because their oil

production has not been going up because of some of the regulatory issues i have been talking about. that is a vital part of the oil supply for our country. that was a case where there was a concern about all of these different environmental issues that the pipeline would create and it has been proven that the pipeline has been safe. they talk about how a lot of the animals, the caribou and so forth, they actually come to the or like to be underneath it because it is a little bit warmer. it has actually been, if anything, beneficial. it has not hindered or hurt wildlife or the environment. that is an important point to be made. that is the argument being used against keystone. host: he also asked you about unemployment insurance. guest: i am open to that. we offered a bill that we would

be really -- we would be willing to support. we put forward alternatives that i have supported and republicans would support. we have to make sure that as we passed legislation we are addressing the deficit and the debt. a 17.2 trillion dollar debt. we have to address that for future generations. to a caller from alaska, anchorage, alaska. patrick, republican line. you are on was senator hoven. caller: good morning. thank you for the washington journal. it is a very valuable resource for us. senator hoven, i have two questions. because of the previous caller, i wanted to clarify one point regarding private and public oil out of alaska.

governor hickle saw to it that we became an owner states. much closer to that oil being private oil than it is public. the oil companies appear are telling us that the reason there is only 500,000 barrels a day going down the pipe is because structure and royalty . they say this to hide. last year we voted -- they say it is too high. last year we voted to reduce it by $2 billion a year. we will see if that makes a difference in the amount of oil going down that pipe. the questions i have are relevant to the keystone pipeline. the first one is, who owns the railroad that is carrying the product now?

what kind of revenue would be lost by that railroad when that pipeline gets built? the last question is, is there a concerted effort by lobbying groups in washington, d.c. to hold up this pipeline on behalf of that railroad? like: well, it sounds somebody well versed in the industry and what is going on. as far as the railroad in our part of the world, that oil is moved by burlington northern santa fe railroad. oil would go via the keystone pipeline and other pipelines. we are working on sandpiper pipeline. that would carry 200,000 barrels a day to refineries in eastern parts of the country. that oil would move from train

transport to pipeline. we are growing our production significantly. there will be more production that will have to be moved by pipeline and by rail. there will be business for rail, even with pipeline development. it is how do we move the product safely, efficiently, and you of pipeline,t mix rail, and truck to do it. as far as lobbying -- the strongest lobbying against the keystone xl are some of the environmental groups that do not favor using fossil fuels. they prefer the country use other types of fossil fuels. we need to develop all of our energy resources. continue -- we have to have fossil fuels now. we should produce that here

rather than get it from the middle east. left.a couple minutes i wanted to ask you about some of your other work on capitol hill. you are a member of the legislative branch appropriations subcommittee on the senate side. one of the projects you helped move forward in the past year is the doma restoration project that is being done for the -- the dome restoration project that is being done on the capito l. this is a $60 million restoration project on the capitol dome. you took a tour before moving ahead for the appropriations on this. guest: i am on the legislative branch, i am the ranking member. we have to make sure that the capitol building and the other facilities are well-maintained. is -- it has something

like 1300 cracks. it had some real issues in terms of maintenance. dome is a symbol of our country and freedom. we had to make sure that it is repaired great it is a $60 million project and we worked to find that money in the budget. facte cognizant of the that we have to find savings and reforms to reduce spending. we are working to do that in the federal budget. the people ofme, this country would want to make sure that we do the necessary maintenance on the dome. project andur-year people will start to see scaffolding goal up around the about four will take years. we're going to make sure that it is fixed so that it is therefore

for generations -- they arre any generations to come. host: dome made of masonry, copper, and would. a65 construction begins on new dome. 1863, the statue of freedom is placed on top of the dome. 1959, 2-year restoration begins. last year, the $60 million .roject begins of the thousand or more cracks in the capitol dome, they range in sizes from several inches to three feet in length. you got to see them up close and personal. guest: various pieces had come off the dome. -- ihing like 1300 cracks don't want to say structural issues in terms of it being unsafe -- but leaks and cracks and things that would cause it

to deteriorate. it is something we needed to do. i had to do substantial amount of work to get it done. i know the american people want to make sure that our dome is preserved and taking care of. host: you mentioned stephen ayres. we hope he will come on the show and talk about the repairs. in aple minutes left couple more questions on keystone for you. twitter question -- if obama says yes to keystone, what is the epa going to do? guest: they have been part of the process all along. themately, the decision is presidents, unless i can get enough of my colleagues in the senate to agree with me. i probably have about 55 now. i have to get 60 that will sign on to approve it. that would work or we have to have president obama approve it.

once he does that, the epa has had their say in this process. at that point, the project would go forward. dick int's go to cincinnati, ohio. my question was answered by a previous caller, but in regards to building refineries in north dakota or in that area, i think you mentioned three. of thosethe capacities refineries? i hope you build them big enough to handle a million barrels a day. if you did, why would you need the pipeline? guest: they are not a million barrels a day. one is about 60,000 barrels a day. they are not large refineries, but they are expandable. we are going to need pipelines

to move crude to other refineries around the country. we have to have distributions throughout the country. that will be a combination of moving crude to refineries where it is refined in various parts of the country, but also finished product, pipelines that will move finished product from refineries to where it is needed. they'll be a combination of pipeline, rail, and truck. would you support a measure to require oil drilled on federal land to stay in the u.s.? i do not think that is the right approach. what we need to do is have the kind of comprehensive energy plan that encourages a states-first approach. they develop the energy resources they had in their part of the country.

that can be traditional, fossil fuel types or renewable types. it is what works for their state. tax revenues without raising taxes. when we produce more energy from all sources then we consume, we are energy secure. and economicob benefits that go with it. that is the right approach, rather than the idea that we will have these regulations that prevent the private investment that gets new technologies deployed that produces more energy from all sources, but do it with better environmental stewardship. host: gloria, pieper city, illinois. good morning. caller: i find mr. hoven's ability to quote how much crude piped through --

the line just rolls off the tongue, but he cannot say how much is exported. it seems questionable. lpg, liquefied petroleum gas, 74,000 barrels at the beginning of last year and 486,000 barrels at the end of the year. that was exported. as this was exported, the price that we paid went from $2.21 to $6.39. sure i followt the last part of the question, but as to the first part, in regards to me stating specifically how much oil or refined products are exported, the point i am making is we are a net importer.

we have to import oil into this country. we only produce about half of the oil that we consume. fromu count what we import canada and mexico, we are up to about 75% of what we consume. the other 25%, we have to import. we exported a barrel, but for everyone barrel we export, we have to import a barrel and another barrel to meet our needs. we are getting those from the middle east and venezuela and other parts of the world. we are a net importer of energy. we have to import oil to meet our needs. host: jeff, california, on our line for democrats. thanks for holding on. caller: good morning. question i have is regarding

d howsafe the oil is an much the senator is concerned about the environment. aest: safety is always concern, whether you're talking about production or transportation. we are working on an approach to make moving it by rail safer. at is why we need adequate pipelines with the latest technology, to move the project -- the product safely. pipeline, train, or truck. it has to be an ongoing effort. we have to be safe with production, transportation, at the pump. safety has to be paramount and an ongoing effort. the second part of your question was you wanted to make sure we're doing it safely and what was the second part? host: worried about the

environment. guest: i touched on that a minute ago. if we were to get the right kind of regulatory environment that encourages private investment, capital investment, there are hundreds of billions in terms of private investment that is ready going into ands is ready to go into the energy industry. that investment drives new technologies so we can produce more energy with better environmental stewardship. when we talk about drilling techniques and drilling many oil head, whenone single we talk about hydraulic fracturing, we are producing energy with less omissions and a smaller environmental footprint. when you get the right kind of regulatory approach that drives

that investment, you deploy these new technologies -- they produce more energy with better environmental stewardship. environmentalfrom standpoint and those technologies are adopted around the globe. that is how you get the better environmental stewardship with more energy production. host: we talked about some of your other work on capitol hill. the olympics just ended and you bill that doesa not tax olympic athletes. medal,when they win a gold, silver, or bronze, they pay tax on the value of the medal. i don't think they should. they are representing our country, they do amazing jobs. realize think people they are being taxed for winning a medal. is the primary sponsor of the bill.

i am happy to sponsor the bill with them. i think we are going to get a pass. host: when might this come up? guest: we are working to get enough support. we have not been able to get it to the floor yet, but we are building support pretty fast. when we get 60 senators that will support it, we will get it to the floor. host: what is the tax i gold medal? the exacton't know amount. it depends on your bracket. you have to imagine -- a gold medal of that size, it is significant in value. host: peter, independent line. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i find it incredible that we tax olympians for bringing their medals back to the country.

i would like to talk about the pipeline issue. it seems we have had a multitude of presidents stand up in public and claim that we need to get off of oil. this is fossil fuel. the strategy seems to have changed now, publicly, to we need to have oil security. can you respond to that strategy , statedchange in policy publicly, in plain sight, and it has been predicting the infrastructure of the dirty energy producers and keeping out clean energy from competing. can you respond? guest: different presidents take different approaches. orneed to be energy secure energy independent. i am not saying solely one source. we should develop all of our

sources of energy, traditional and renewable. look at what is going on with natural gas. we are producing incredible amounts of natural gas, which provides low-cost energy with tremendous environmental benefits. that is only one part of it. we are doing more with biofuels and solar. wind. doing more with as we develop these technologies, we will produce more energy from these sources. be picking winners and losers. we should create an environment at the federal and state level that encourages private investment, drives the technology that produces more all sources, and does it with a better environmental stewardship. joining us on you "washington journal."

will join us to discuss his new piece in "foreign affairs magazine." first, a news update from c-span radio. secretary-general is speaking at the start of a defense ministers meeting in brussels. if afghan leaders and the white house cannot agree on a key security pact, the alliance will pull its troops and equipment out of afghanistan by december. this after president obama threatened to withdraw all u.s. troops from afghanistan by the end of the year if the pact is not signed. officials are investigating reports that someone pointed a laser light at the it of -- laser light at the cockpit of two airplanes in the boston area.

an update on the massive data breach around the christmas holiday. the breach has taken a toll on target. has been pushed down 46%. sales fell as the breach scare off customers. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. c-span. we bring public affairs events from washington directly to you. we put you in the room at congressional hearings, white house events, briefings and conferences. it is all a public service of private industry. tv cablereated by the industry. watch us in hd, like us on

facebook, and a follow us on twitter. >> year in, year out, their homes were nightmares of swirling dust, night and day. stayed. machinery, homes, food, and even hope were gone. the 1930 sixnd, u.s. resettlement administration documentary, the plow that broke the plains. a history of the great plains region.

>> i think there are some myths out there. people think a maraschino cherry is something that is preserved and it is not. it is no different than a pickled cherry and the brine process is no different than the types of sulfates you use in making wine. i would not call it a healthy product, but it is something that is a tasty treat. >> what you see here is cherries in various stages of process. we put them in water and they will still have brine in the fruit. they go through an extensive washing to get the brine, sulfur, and calcium out of the brew. the process of making maraschino is you are taking the brine and

a soaking it in a stronger and stronger sugar and the color solution. over the course of that surfing schedule, the color will pick up as the sugar content picks up. here is some fruit that is very early in the process. it is lightly colored. you can see how much darker that fruit is. that is further along. that gives you an idea. you will see yellow, pink, deep red. it is the cycle of the infusion and where it is at in the process. this weekend, booktv and american history tv look behind history and little early -- and literary life of salem, oregon. what we are told as students and a nation in terms of the popular imagination is that

there are all kinds of citizens and marches and demonstrations that occur. done by these famous, iconic people. was so tiredho that she refused to get up from the bus in montgomery, alabama. a young preacher, who even the president referred to as a young preacher from georgia, dr. martin luther king jr., who leads the masses of african americans from racial oppression . the notion that rosa sat and martin could do this stuff and jesse could run, they sound simplify a much more complicated history. manyhistory involved so african-americans, women and men, who proactively dismantled racial segregation, including rosa parks.

just refuse to give up her seat by accident. it was a concerted, strategic effort to transform democratic institutions. joseph specializes in the subfield of africa on a. -- africana. his book will be in stores on march 4. >> washington journal continues. week, we put a spotlight on a recent magazine piece. jonathan alter joins us to discuss his piece in "foreign affairs magazine." thank you for joining us from new york. guest: my pleasure. president

famously said he fumbled the online health exchanges that were the centerpiece of his new health care law. you used the term fiasco in your article. five months after the launch of healthcare.gov, do we know the full story behind why things went so poorly? guest: we do not. it might be some time before we know exactly who is to blame. notadministration wanted to engage in finger-pointing while they were trying to fix the website. they have largely done that now. people can enroll online. in the next couple of months, particularly after the march 31 enrollment deadline passes, you will see some accountability for what went wrong last fall. there is an internal investigation underway. i think you will see more

firings of people who were responsible. host: a bit from your piece from march/april "foreign affairs." one might reasonably have expected obama to be especially attentive when it came to the execution of his pet program. instead, a president failed to correct for this shortcoming on his resume. he bring in the people that he needed to? guest: this is what i tried to look at in this article. it is a continuation of a theme that i touched on in both of my books about president obama. one is called "the promise." the other is called "the center holds."

president'slain the failure to compensate for the lack of management experience. it is not that he did not have experience. we knew that. we elected him, notwithstanding his lack of experience. he not been a governor, he had not had experience in federal .ureaucracy obama had none of the experience , not to mention not having business experience. came tod have, when he office, compensated for that lack of experience by hiring a series of managers, people with experience. why did he not do that? it is not because he has some

animus towards business. a number of people in business believe. that is not true. friend in chicago is a businessman and he has many other friends in the business community. he is more comfortable surrounding himself with people of backgrounds like his own, people who come out of capitol hill, come out of the government, academia. he did not bring in people with real ceo experience. when some of his supporters asked him after he was elected president in late 2008, why don't you bring in someone who has true ceo experience. he always gave the same answer -- i have valerie jarrett. valerie a chapter to center holds."

she had only been a ceo for a few months. period, she was mostly working on the obama campaign. the founder of the housing company she was working for was effective control of the company. you did not have a ceo in his notwithstanding valerie jarrett's presents. techred one person with start up experience. a really needed at least half-dozen people in his government to make sure that his signature program, that is what is, his best bet to being remembered for something more than being the first african-american president. you think you would have applied

great attentiveness to make sure the rollout of this went smoothly. he did not do so. i think he knows it. he called it a fumble. it remains costly for him. it set him off on the wrong foot for these 2014 midterm elections. host: we want to give the viewers a chance to call in and give questions on their thoughts of the subject. republicans, (202) 585-3881. democrats, (202) 585-3880. independents, (202) 585-3882. outside the u.s., (202) 585-3883 . weren't there some lessons from history, considering how hard it was to pass health care reform and the affordable care act in 2010? how can he not be attentive to what will be a legacy program to

for him? i think he was attentive, but he did not bring in the right people to supervise the project. he gave it to the department of health and human services which had it run out of the center for medicaid and medicare services. bureaucracymbersome . the president admitted that the government has had trouble for some years with i.t. procurement. knowing this going in, you would even more he would be attentive. it is not that he ignored this, it is that he did not get on top of it and to get people on top of it. he did not have enough experience and self or hire people with enough experience to speak geek, to speak the tech

language to understand when they were being buffaloed by the contractors. there is a tendency for toinformation and happy talk make its way up the chain of command. that is where experienced managers understand when they are being buffaloed by the contractors. in this case, a contractor said we have some bugs, we can manage those. nobody had the overview to know that in total, there were more in healthcare.gov. that is why it was enormously frustrating for those that went on the website. none of this has to do with whether obamacare is good for the country, not good for the country. i think it is very important that we are providing health security for millions of

americans and that we are mirror,in the rearview where if you or your child got sick and face personal bankruptcy and mineral -- millions of cases, that is not what this is about. question competency and it is one that the president could have anticipated. host: we want to show a little more from your piece. whatever happens to the affordable care act, the mistakes made with the rollout has tarnished the president's reputation for competence. he will always have to live with the fact that he fumbled his signature program and his best bet to define his legacy. let's bring in a few callers to talk to jonathan alter. we will go to joseph, ithaca, new york. my question in

relationship to what he is talking about, has he done a study of the republican denial of management and positions that obama had his people apply for, the people who have taken at least two years to be turned down? has he done a study in relationship to other presidents and how the democrats have blocked the same situations, where they do not have the management possibilities? guest: it is an interesting question. my most recent book, "the center there is a chapter called obama and his enemies. i think they have taken the country on the wrong path and they will do anything to try to .estroy president obama i hold them to account for it. in this particular case, this was not a matter of nominees

being blocked. it is true that the original head of the center for medicaid and medicare services, the actor ing director was blocked on capitol hill, assuming that position on a permanent basis. is possible barwick would have provided more leadership at s. then turned out to be the case. i am not sure that was the root of the problem. i think a lot of these government officials did not require confirmation. they just needed to be better able to supervise a very large i.t. project. have such projects been messed up in the past by both administrations? obviously.

the stakes in this particular case were high for this president. president obama get google or amazon to design the affordable care act website? after he was elected in 2008, he brought in one ,xecutive from that industry andrew maclachlan, from google. frustration about 18 months into the first term because he was frustrated at how primitive the federal government was on i.t. and how hard it was to move things. presidentect, the should have brought in half-dozen, a dozen such executives from those industries. , her the 2012 midterms went

had great tech people working in .hicago whot in with these geeks reengineered american politics to reelect the president and change history. why did they not come into the white house? some of it is that recruiting people with all of the vetting requirements now is hard. it was hard to get them and it they did noty that try hard enough to bring in those kinds of folks. why they didn't give google or amazon the actual contract -- i don't know about the bidding process. i do not know as google bid on the project. they used a series of other i.t. contractors. one of them, the one that is the most to blame is cgi.

because itky performed pretty well on a website that was set up to theove transparency for $787 billion stimulus from 2009 and 2010. it performed well on that website. horribly on a canadian project. the u.s. government hired them for healthcare.gov. obviously there is some blame with that contractor. fired, but the real blame, in my mind, it rests with those who were supposed to supervise those contractors. does that mean the president directly? no. he is not down in the weeds figuring out if this part of the website is working properly.

he needed to have create a , finde of management people that had experience managing these very large projects. this was much more like a private sector kind of project. it is true and he believes that not all business experience is transferable in the government. a lot of business people say why doesn't he just let people from business run this? government works differently. it requires a different set of skills. they are not always transferable. there are some discrete projects and healthcare.gov is one of those where significant private sector experience would have been a big help. host: we are talking with author and freelance writer, jonathan iner, about his piece "foreign affairs." several people waiting to talk to you. brian, illinois, independent

line. caller: good morning. this country, in the election calendar determines everything. all of the politicians are worried about covering their backsides and getting reelected. i have heard speculation, i think it is true, all of the serious dirty work of getting the aca start was delayed until after the 2012 elections. they did not want to start instructing the system and finding glitches and problems and let the republicans sit there and take potshots at him a whole time. it seems the strategy of the obama campaign was to let it election, andhe andto ram pump -- ramp up produce something this complicated in 18 months. it is next to impossible. if you look at other software programs that the government has

tried to implement, look at the faa. they have been trying to come up with a new software system for over a decade. i heard a story the other day where the pentagon -- the air force wasted billions of dollars on another program that is not implemented and will not work. it seems the contractors are vampires feeding off of washington, d.c. we have too many halfwits elected to office. in best and brightest america do not get into politics. it seems like it ezekiel maniacs and people that want to be famous. that is my comment. think he makes a number of very wise points. article in the current issue of "foreign ," that goes over some of the other failed projects. the fbi wasted hundreds of millions of dollars on their computer systems.

the contracting system is broken. caller is right in that the obama administration did delay everything until after the 2012 election, not just software projects, but anything coming out of the federal government was grounded to a halt as they were justifiably worried that the republicans would seize on anything to try to be the president over the head. they slowcal reasons, things down. that does not answer the question as to why after the 2012 election they did not move on a more accelerated basis to try to get this thing going. when it was clear that it needed to be delayed and needed beta testing, they should have delayed it. i heard from someone in the

white house that they could have delayed it. i could have allowed the navigators and other parts of health care enrollment to move forward, but delay the websites for a couple of months until it was ready. failure to do that is inexplicable. one part i would disagree with the caller is that the very -- is at the very end where he said halfwits and incompetence go into politics. there are plenty of halfwits who get up and say the dopey us -- , butst things imaginable there are also a lot of smart people that go into politics. be a little bit more discriminating in our attitude and i do think a fair assessment in theut the president

category of a very bright and committed public servant. compensate did not for his lack of management experience. that is where i go after him in this piece. would you say marry summed up on our twitter page? the president has used new digital media better than any so far, but still had to trust experts. here, he picked the wrong experts. do you agree? did, in his campaign in particular, not just in digital media. digital technology across the board, big data, all kinds of , digital techniques to create the first digital campaign of the 21st century in 2012.

that is a large reason why he was reelected. that makes this failure on healthcare.gov all the more puzzling. he had been very effective on the digital front in the campaign. to kyle,'s go richmond, virginia. you are on with jonathan alter. how can you defend the president when he said if you like your health care, you can keep it, but at the same time, almost 25,000 people in california lost the health insurance. the insurance company because they refuse to cover a maintenance medication that i have to take, prescribed by my doctor. -- do you defend his health-care problems will be fine, you will be ok.

guest: it is a good question. i do not defend at that. -- defend that. in order to get the bill passed, he said that if you like your health care plan you can keep your health care plan. this was technically true when the bill was signed in march 2010. everyone that had existing health care got to keep their plans. a were grandfathered in. over the four years since then, if you got a new plan in that period and that plan did not meet the minimum standards set by the affordable care act, that plan could be canceled. they have to come up with a new plan for you because everybody under this law is to be covered. the cancellations are not permanent.

the fact remains that what the president said was not accurate. apologized for that. it was accurate only for those that had insurance in 2010. they could keep their insurance. not keep it if it was a generally insufficient land. it is true that a lot of the plans that were canceled were bad plans. they were plans that covered two doctors visits a year and everything beyond that, if you got sick, it came out of your own pocket. that is not insurance. one of the good things about thoseare, it outlawed plans and required insurance companies to come up with something that covered people better. that are a lot of people are caught in continuing fights with their insurers. this is why i am a supporter of

obamacare. obamacare,, before the caller we heard from would have no weapons on his side with which to fight the insurers. they could cancel him at any had metey could say he his lifetime cap. they had a thousand ways to screw somebody they were in a dispute with. now, patients have dozens of ways of fighting back. hire a navigator, sometimes they are free. get a navigator, get some help in navigating through the new health care system we have. he may get coverage for what he described. the president is making some news in statements yesterday.

he said tuesday that about 4 million people have signed up for health insurance through federal or state marketplaces. set ante house has unofficial goal of 7 million enrollees by the end of march. less than half of that total had enrolled through the end of january. we have a few minutes left with jonathan alter before the house comes in. thomas is waiting with his question or comment. good morning. caller: i would like to say that -- we have very good technology and the government. besides that, i would like to say that i do not think that obama fumbles anything. millions of people are insured. that are that, people under 26, they are insured.

i do not think that his lack of running a company is vital in this information that you are giving. he picked experts who made errors. did mitt romney picked experts that made errors? he lost the election. guest: this is the distinction i want to try to draw. when i use the word fumble, that was president obama's own word to describe what happened with healthcare.gov, with the website. they fumbled the ball on october 1. i think they have picked up their own fumble and improved the website a lot. you need to draw a distinction between the rollout of the website, which was a fumble, and the larger idea of obamacare, which we agree is not a fumble.

it is the fulfillment of something that seven presidents in both parties over the course of the 20th century tried and failed to accomplish. barack obama got it done. we thinkpublican side, of this as some kind of radical obamacare, socialist notion. the plan is more conservative than the plan introduced by richard nixon in 1969. howardbout the same that baker and bob dole developed in the 1990's. this is a moderate plan that helps millions of people. fear from millions of people. not just keeping your kids on until 26, but cancer survivors, other people that have illnesses, we were uninsurable before obamacare.

no one would touch us or help us get coverage. that is in america's past. this is a good thing for our country. there are plenty of glitches in it. the one thing i would like to remind viewers of is -- i wrote an early book on franklin roosevelt -- the social security act of 1935 was a flawed piece of legislation. it had to be fixed numerous times to take care of particular problems in social security. host: we have to end it there. the house is coming in. thank you for joining us. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014]